Annual Christmas Bird Count

December 29, 2018

December 29, 2018 - Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge is proud to invite participants to join the 119th Annual Christmas Bird Count, conducted by the National Audubon Society. This international event provides an opportunity to engage in real citizen science by contributing to a long-running wildlife census.

What is the Christmas Bird Count?

The refuge hosts pre-registration for people who wish to make observations in the "Chincoteague Circle" (VACI). The circle is 15-miles in diameter and includes Chincoteague Island, portions of Assateague Island, portions of Wallops Island, Horntown, Greenbackville, and Stockton, MD. The National Audubon Society and other organizations use data collected in this long-running wildlife census to assess the health of bird populations - and to help guide conservation action. Registered participants are invited to a "Tally Rally" and light dinner at 5:30pm at the Herbert H. Bateman Education Center, sponsored by Chincoteague Natural History Association and Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge.

Pre-registration is required and participants will be assigned to a sector within the count circle. To join, please contact Kevin Holcomb at 757-336-6122 x2319 or email Kevin_Holcomb@fws.gov.
The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is a long-standing program of the National Audubon Society, with over 100 years of citizen science involvement. It is an early-winter bird census, where thousands of volunteers across the US, Canada and many countries in the Western Hemisphere, go out over a 24 hour period on one calendar day to count birds. Learn more or find a count circle near you at the National Audubon Society's Christmas Bird Count webpage.

What We Do

Chincoteague Ponies

Over the past 200-300 years, these modern-day descendants of domestic horses have adapted to the hardships of living near the ocean. Prior to the refuge's establishment in 1943, the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company purchased the ponies and continues ownership to this day. The Firemen are allowed to graze up to 150 ponies on refuge land through a Special Use Permit from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.